TFS – Chapter 69 The New Year’s Gift

The result of helping someone bathe was that Tang Chunming found himself going through the same bathing process. By the time he finally managed to emerge from the cubicle, his arms and legs were weak, as though he were the one who had drunk too much. The person who had seemed drunk earlier, on the other hand, effortlessly lifted the one who had been assisting with the bath and carried him horizontally, showing no sign of staggering or wavering, walking steadily toward the new bed.

The new bed had a soft layer of fresh cotton padding. When Tang Chunming was thrown onto it, he felt as if his whole body sank into it. Before he could even roll the blanket and curl up inside, a stronger, hotter body, making him shiver all over, covered him. He heard that person whisper softly in his ear, “Ming Ge’er, I’m really happy, Ming Ge’er, today is the happiest day of my life, Ming Ge’er…”

Having his name called out repeatedly in a hoarse voice by the person beside him made Tang Chunming feel as though his soul was leaving his body. He also wanted to say that he felt his life had come full circle. In his past life, he had many regrets, but in this life, he felt he had the courage to walk through and complete the circle.

This night was destined to be very long.

The next day, Tang Chunming was woken up by Ah Sen’s voice, accompanied by Ah Lin’s soft coaxing: “Ah Sen, stop calling, Father said Mother needs to rest well because she’s tired. Ah Sen, do you think Mother stayed up late last night? Er Mao Ge said he was going to take me to see the wedding night fun, but I was already asleep…” There was a tone of regret in the voice.

As soon as he woke up, he heard his son was coming to disturb his wedding night. Tang Chunming silently buried his embarrassed face in the blanket for a while, mentally preparing himself before finally crawling out of the bed. To his surprise, even Li Feng was standing by the kang (a traditional heated bed). When he saw those deep, dark eyes, Tang Chunming felt like his face was burning again. Well, he’s a grown man, what’s there to be shy about? It’s just that he had spent half the day tangled in bed sheets with another man whose body was so stunning it made him drool. Maybe he should set off firecrackers to celebrate finally shedding the identity of a virgin in both lives (at least mentally, in this life).

“Mother, you’re awake! The sun’s already shining on your butt!” Ah Lin happily rushed to Tang Chunming. Immediately, Tang Chunming’s face changed. First, the little one had returned the words he usually said back to him, and second, after rolling in bed for so long, no matter how well his body recovered, it was limited. He felt as if he could hear his joints protesting, and all romantic thoughts completely disappeared.

“Be good, Ah Lin,” Li Feng quickly intervened. Seeing Ming Ge’er’s face turn pale, he hurriedly picked Ah Lin up, “Let’s let Mother get up. Ah Lin, how about you go play with Uncle?” he said, gently coaxing.

“Okay, but I want to bring my little brother. I’ll play with little brother and Uncle. Uncle is still sleeping, but without Ah Lin and little brother, he won’t be good.” Ah Lin was very considerate and didn’t disturb his parents, but his words made Tang Chunming laugh. It seemed like Ah Rong was looked down upon by little Ah Lin.

“Go ahead, I’ll get up soon.” Tang Chunming reached out and patted the heads of the two little ones.

Li Feng gave Tang Chunming a worried glance before walking out with the children. He was concerned that Ah Lin might have trouble adjusting to the sudden change, so he had placed him and Ah Sen by Ming Ge’er this morning when he asked for Mother.

By the time Li Feng returned after sending the children away, Tang Chunming was already sitting up, leaning against the kang. Li Feng hurried over, gently helping him into his arms, his hands starting to gently knead Tang Chunming: “Are you okay? Last night… I was reckless…” He said this, his face flushing with embarrassment. He didn’t dare look at Ming Ge’er, afraid that he wouldn’t be able to control himself and end up tumbling into bed again, causing all sorts of chaos.

“Are you okay? Ha, of course, I’m fine. After all, I’m a man too. Let me go, I need to get up.” Damn it, why bring that up? But, okay, after a bit of massage, all the uncomfortable parts felt warm. The legendary inner energy was truly magical. Despite struggling for so many days in the space with no results, it made Tang Chunming feel discouraged. He wasn’t sure if he should continue. After all, he was getting older, and his body was no longer as flexible or talented as it used to be for martial arts.

To prove that he was really fine, Tang Chunming hopped a couple of times after getting off the kang (heated bed), gave Li Feng a proud look, and then took small steps out. Li Feng behind him twitched the corner of his mouth, smiling as he followed. If he hadn’t been massaging Ming Ge’er all morning, he was sure Ming Ge’er would have already punched him by now.

After a night of rest, the people who had helped clean up the mess yesterday weren’t able to finish the job, so the next morning, Shen Fulong and his group came to help. Fortunately, the weather was nice, and after opening the windows, the smell of alcohol quickly dispersed.

When they saw Ming Ge’er walk out from the new house, Shen Fulong and the others deliberately held their gaze on him for a while, then casually shifted their attention and continued talking, exchanging glances of understanding or greeting him normally. Tang Chunming also made an effort to speak normally.

“Thank you for your hard work. Here, have some food to replenish yourselves, lunch will be ready soon.”

Wang Ying’s words broke the “normal” expression Tang Chunming had been trying to maintain, and inwardly he screamed. Replenishing? A grown man like him had to get up early and drink red date and longan porridge, along with boiled eggs in brown sugar water, which seemed like the kind of nutritious food he used to have during confinement after giving birth.

When he lifted his head and looked at his stepmother with a pitiful expression, all he saw was his back. He could only stab a boiled egg with his chopsticks. He was really hungry!

“Big Brother, you’re up!” Yu Mu and others, dressed lightly, came running in from outside and waved at Tang Chunming. Tang Chunming froze halfway as he lifted his hand to wave. Why did their tone sound so surprised, as if he shouldn’t have appeared at this time?

“I heard that last night, Li Feng single-handedly got everyone drunk?” Tang Chunming sighed in relief, trying to regain control of the situation.

Cough, cough, cough… The soldiers, who had just come back from training in the mountains, all bent over and started coughing. It was so embarrassing, so humiliating.

Elder He came from behind and slapped Yu Mu’s back with force. “Kid, who was the one who crawled under the table last night?”

So humiliating! They couldn’t even beat Li Feng, one person. Someone protested, “It must be that the boss tampered with the drinks last night, or else how could so many of us lose to him?”

Tang Chunming’s younger brother, Tang Chunrong, also climbed out of the room and sat down beside him, silently eating the nutritious breakfast his mother had brought him. He gave a resentful glance at the brother-in-law behind them. He agreed with Yu Mu’s opinion that the brother-in-law must have tampered with the drinks. How devious!

Tang Chunming slapped his head. “You smell of alcohol, and you haven’t even washed yet. Hurry up and finish your food, then go ask Mother to heat up some water and wash yourself.”

“Big Brother…” Tang Chunrong looked injured, his expression saying, “You’ve become so violent toward me, not caring about me at all. Is it true that once you have a brother-in-law, you no longer have a younger brother?”

Li Feng walked over and gave Yu Mu a cold look. “How about we have another contest? Whether it’s drinking or fighting skills.”

“Haha,” Yu Mu immediately leaned towards him, “We shouldn’t delay your intimate time with Sister-in-law. It’s hard enough for us to come out; we have to go back right away. Yeah, we need to leave now.” The others nodded in agreement. Damn it, after training so early in the morning, they couldn’t even beat Li Feng, one person, and it was the morning after his wedding. Was there no justice?!

Tang Chunming was also a bit confused. When Zhang Xiu leaned over and whispered something to him, he finally understood and nodded, though he couldn’t help but shoot Li Feng a glance. He had slept in until almost noon, yet this man had so much energy that he had already trained with Yu Mu and the others. How was it that he was falling behind so much? Should he really keep up with martial arts training? Maybe one day, he’d develop internal energy. Tang Chunming couldn’t quite let go of his dream of becoming a great hero.

Yu Mu and the others weren’t joking. They really couldn’t stay for long. Li Feng and Elder He both knew this, so even on the second day of their wedding, they were still busy. They had to deliver New Year’s gifts to people they were familiar with, and Yu Mu and the others helped by delivering them. This included the influential person that Elder He had mentioned earlier, who might be interested in their brewed wine and could send someone to negotiate the sale. Elder He had given them the address of a shop in Dingzhou Prefecture, where Yu Mu was to drop off the gifts. From there, the shop would ensure the gifts were forwarded to the noble.

To make the gifts look more presentable and raise their value, Li Feng had specially ordered a batch of small, delicate wine jars, each holding half a jin (about 250g), from the county. He also included some local specialties and things from their space, such as rice, flour, and fruit preserves. The rest were medicinal pills that Elder He had made himself. After all, with their status, no one would care about the best things they could offer; it was better to give something practical, like the produce from their space and these pills.

Of course, Tang Chunming also had some other ideas. As more people in Ping Shan Village started purchasing grain seeds and growing more crops, selling the produce outside would become a problem. He thought that while delivering these New Year’s gifts, letting those high-ranking officials taste the food might help them realize the difference between their products and ordinary food. Naturally, Li Feng and Elder He made sure to be selective about who received the gifts.

However, the household’s wine had already been requested by Yu Mu and the others. They couldn’t wait to ask for it the day before when they were drinking, so it was only natural that they packed some up when they left.

After sending off Yu Mu and the group, the next visitor was Teng Yu, who hadn’t left last night. Shopkeeper Qi had returned early in the morning with the chefs who had come to help. When Teng Yu saw the gifts being sent out, he finally understood why Tang Chunming and Li Feng had said that they had kept most of the wine for themselves to drink, as what was left for giving away probably wouldn’t be enough for the next batch of wine.

“Congratulations on your wedding. I have to return to the county now, with the end of the year approaching, I must head back to my family.” Teng Yu cupped his hands in greeting, feeling somewhat regretful. He had to go back to his family, where a pile of troublesome matters awaited him. Life in the countryside here was so much more carefree.

“Safe travels, we’ll have plenty of chances to meet again.” They had sent a portion of the New Year’s gifts to Teng Yu, including some of the wine, so he didn’t have any objections and waved contentedly as he left.

Two days later, the household had finally settled down, and Tang Chunming and Li Feng were now living the long-awaited married life.

Tang Chunming sat on the kang, with his stepmother and younger brother already returned to their Village. With the year coming to an end, there were many things for his family to take care of, so they had stayed at Tang Chunming’s house for longer than planned. As he watched Ah Sen, he was busy keeping the accounts. Li Feng was beside him, sorting through the congratulatory gifts that Yu Mu and the others had brought.

Once everything was registered, Tang Chunming stretched and looked at the little Ah Sen, who was moving like a turtle. He pinched his little nose, and Ah Sen responded with a series of “ah ah” sounds. If he could talk, he’d surely protest: “Mother, mother, if you pinch my nose any more, it’ll turn into a flat nose and I won’t look handsome anymore!”

Elder He was on the other side, teaching Ah Lin how to write. Now, Ah Lin was fully under Elder He’s tutelage. Tang Chunming knew he couldn’t compare to Elder He in terms of teaching; there was a huge gap, so he had completely given up on teaching.

Looking around at the scene in the house, Tang Chunming felt warmth in his heart. This was what a real family was like. Since his father passed away, he had been alone in the house. Even though the surprise of the space had appeared, it still couldn’t erase the feeling of loneliness inside him. But now, with the elderly and the young in the house, and with Li Feng by his side, he felt a sense of fulfillment.

“Some of these things should be moved to your place when we have time,” Li Feng said as he organized the items. “Your place” referred, of course, to the celestial space.

“Alright, but some things are too precious. People like us won’t really have any use for them.” Most of the people Li Feng interacted with were martial artists, and the gifts they brought were simple and direct, just the valuable things. As a result, their home now had some jade and gold pieces. Seeing this, Tang Chunming couldn’t help but feel emotional. Thankfully, with the wealth Li Feng had accumulated before, he wasn’t overly shocked.

According to Li Feng, as long as these military men had wars to fight, they wouldn’t be poor—this was true for those of higher rank. When they fought the northern barbarians, they had looted a lot of valuables from the northern noble families. Some were handed over, but a portion was kept and secretly divided among themselves. This was an unspoken rule within their army, and some of Li Feng’s wealth had come from this.

As for Yu Mu and the others, after arriving in Dingzhou Prefecture, they had recently gone out to suppress a group of bandits, so they were not financially strained either.